Telstra: no more share buyback

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 15 November 2005 15:07

IT Industry - Strategy

Telstra has announced that it will not continue with the third year of the $1.5 billion share buyback program, and will instead invest the money in its network to deliver long term shareholder value.

Telstra updated the market on the outlook for its earnings for the 2005-06 year saying that it expected an EBIT decline between 19 to 24 percent as a result of the implementing its new strategy requiring accelerated depreciation of network assets that will be decommissioned. This new estimate would increase the decline to between 25 and 30 percent if Telstra raised a provision for redundancy. The figure was issued with the caveat that "This assumes a reasonable regulatory outcome."

Telstra is also projecting that its cost structure will remain flat from the half year 05-06 level and that revenue will grow faster than expenses, reversing recent trends. It expects EBIT to grow at a 3 to 4 percent CAGR between now and 2010.